Institute Hall, a new academic science and research building, completes the quadrangle of recent research buildings at a scale that encourages walking and chance interaction among students and faculty. The building is a multi-use facility supporting new programs in science and engineering with equal emphasis on undergraduate and graduate education and research.
Shared informal collaboration spaces enhance the synergistic quality across the building’s departments; Increasingly, knowledge evolves through the subtle and sophisticated interaction of whole teams of individuals working and learning in combination. The undergraduate teaching labs and graduate research labs are intentionally located across the hall from each other on the same floor, increasing opportunities for interaction among faculty and students, and among participants in the different programs. The research laboratories are planned with movable casework and umbilical utilities accessed from above in order to assure flexibility as research needs change over time. As part of the sustainable measures to achieve LEED-NC Gold, Institute Hall integrated digital controls and monitoring, chilled beam HVAC, and energy-efficient lighting and lighting sensors for daylight harvesting.
